


Morning Song

by milosdinosaur



Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, F/M, Families of Choice, Gen, M/M, Raven and Hank aren't perfect parents but they're trying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-08
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:54:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22611349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/milosdinosaur/pseuds/milosdinosaur
Summary: Raven and Hank adopt Kurt. Everyone else kind of does too.
Relationships: Armando Muñoz/Alex Summers (if you squint), Background Charles Xavier/Erik Lehnsherr, Hank McCoy & Kurt Wagner, Hank McCoy/Raven | Mystique, Raven | Mystique & Charles Xavier, Raven | Mystique & Kurt Wagner
Comments: 14
Kudos: 68
Collections: X-Men Rare Pairs 2020





	Morning Song

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by [KuhakuE](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KuhakuE/pseuds/KuhakuE) in the [xmenrarepairs20](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/xmenrarepairs20) collection. 



> **Prompt:** Hank and Raven are in love with each other and with their child, Kurt.  
> Bonus for the school acting as a loving extended family.

In the eyes of the tiny blue mutant, Raven sees herself. 

She didn’t like talking about her past before she’d met Charles. Doesn’t remember much of it actually. Relishing bits of mouldy bread she’d dug out of garbage bins, learning to take things that could go missing, undetected. Fear was as common as the humans who strolled around the streets. She’d spent years perfecting her blonde form, scrutinising glossy magazine pages and the pretty girls Charles liked to flirt with. Light skin and blue eyes. Normal. There was protection in conformity. 

_Why should there be?_ Even now, she can still hear Erik’s words.

Raven can barely breathe, but she forces herself to go through the motions. Support the baby’s head with her upper arm, tilt his head inwards while holding his body close to her chest.

Does he have a name? Or did his parents leave him, unnamed - a thing. Unorthodox and therefore unloved and unwanted. Discarded in an unlabelled cardboard box and left to rot like a piece of junk. 

There is a purity to the gaze, love, trust, both given and received. It’s hard to imagine being that small and helpless. She’s very careful with the baby, trying to bury her hesitance with her bravado. 

Hank barely acknowledges her as she enters their room with the sleeping bundle in her hands. She’s used to it - Hank always was too engrossed in whatever project he was working on at the moment. 

“We’re keeping him,” she states bluntly. She has always been open with Hank and sees no reason to hide anything from him now.

“Of course we’re keeping him,” Hank replies automatically, having grown accustomed to Raven’s compulsion to bring abandoned mutants back to the school, “if he’s a mutant the school has a duty to care for him.” 

“No, _we’re_ keeping him.”

Hank looks up, the thick tome in his lap long forgotten. Hank’s reaction would have been comical, his terrified furry face framed by glasses. Frightened of a child who can’t even lift his head without help. But there was nothing funny about this situation. 

Raven feels responsible for this child, with its bright-yellow eyes, blue skin and forked tail. Hank understands. He knows what it’s like to have to conceal parts of yourself. Would prefer not to do it again, but would, if he had to. This, Raven still can’t make sense of. 

In some ways, they’re similar to Charles and Erik, she thinks sourly. Obviously, of all people, Charles would be able to convince Erik to stay. They’re disgustingly domestic, referring to the children in the school as _theirs_ , theirs to influence and guide and protect. 

She would never admit it, but Raven was, at times, envious of their relationship. The bond they share, how willing Charles is to open up, his quiet murmurs that are only ever for Erik. The way Erik’s eyes soften ever so slightly when he looks at Charles. Indiscernible to anyone who doesn’t know him well enough, but strikingly obvious to those who do. 

The first time Raven spent the night with Hank, she left before he woke up. She spent the very first years of her life fending for herself, ready to flee at a moment’s notice. She’d never managed to completely shed the instinct, even after years of going to sleep with a full stomach in a warm bed. 

They’ve made progress.

“Well,” Hank clears his throat, setting aside the heavy book, “does he have a name?” 

“No.” Her reply is sharp, but it isn’t Hank she’s upset with. “Do you have any ideas?” 

Hank thinks about it for a while. 

“Curtis,” Hank declares proudly a few days later. “After Winifred Curtis.”

Noticing the blank look on Raven’s face, he clarifies. “She was a pioneer researcher in plant embryology and  cytology.” 

Raven can’t help it, she makes a face. At seeing Hank’s puzzled expression, she laughs. “Hank, that name sounds like it could belong to someone older than Charles.” 

They settle on Kurt. 

Charles loves Kurt, of course. Charles has always loved babies, stopping to chat with mothers pushing their children around in prams, and cooing at mothers-to-be. Erik adores the child as much as Charles, though he won’t admit it. 

She has a lot to learn. Caring for children is more Charles’ domain than her’s. She speaks to Charles when he isn’t being difficult. Their world-views are so different that it’s a wonder they don’t argue more. She _does_ value his advice. She only wishes he wouldn’t give it to her in such a patronising manner, constantly lecturing her about how to raise her child. Hank too, does his own research. He trades his scientific journals for books on children, pouring over them with slightly less enthusiasm but just as much diligence.

At the end of the day, Raven still prefers to learn from experience. She and Hank take turns spoon-feeding Kurt, dressing him in custom-made clothes (with a hole for his tail) and soothing him to sleep. It isn’t always pleasant; babies are cute but they can also be loud, demanding and disgusting. They found _that_ out the hard way. But it’s worth it. When she sees the look of wonder on Hank’s face after Kurt’s tail curls around his finger, Raven knows that she would do anything to protect her family. 

Charles and Erik are a great help, offering to take Kurt off their hands when they need a break, if Raven is out on a mission or if they simply want to spend time with each other. Charles never minds if Hank brings Kurt into his office when they’re talking about science or matters related to the school.  Raven always enjoys hearing about these sessions from Hank. She delights in Kurt’s insatiable curiosity, the kind only children can have, trying to run his six fingers over everything in the carpeted expanse of Charles’ office. 

Not just Charles and Erik, everyone is happy to babysit Kurt at one point or another. Sean introduces him to his favourite bands. Angel whisks him away for hours at a time, to play with him and smuggle him cookies when she thinks Raven isn’t looking. When he’s old enough, Alex and Armando take him for walks around the mansion. Raven trusts Armando. She wouldn’t trust Alex half as much, if not for the way he behaves around Scott. He’s a good brother. Alex teases Kurt about his name sometimes, but it’s done the same way he makes fun of Hank these days - without any real animosity behind it. 

Kurt is never left wanting for friends. He grows close to Jean, Scott and Ororo, the four of them often found jumbled together in a flurry of movement and colour. 

Kurt will grow up in an environment lightyears away from the ones she and Hank grew up in. He gets to simply be a _child_ , surrounded by people who love and accept him. For that, she’s grateful. 

**Author's Note:**

> Title was taken from Sylvia Plath's poem of the same name, which you can read [ here. ](https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/49008/morning-song-56d22ab4a0cee)


End file.
